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Women Rally For Right To Equal Pay

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- A few hundred people--mostly women--turned out in Daley Plaza for a noon rally to close the gender pay gap.

It is national Equal Pay Day: Women had to work all last year and until today just to catch up with what men made during 2010.

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"I'm a union carpenter," said Tamera Guilinger of Elgin. "Out of work. Unemployed. Down here because I believe in pay equity."

She held a sign that said "Girls Rule" lettered in pink.

She says the day is worth celebrating--rather than just bemoaning the fact that women have to work nearly 16 months to get paid what men make in 12.

"You can sit and cry, and when girls cry on the job site, it's, 'Oh, she's just crying,' " Guilinger said. "No. We're standing up and we're getting a positive reaction and we're getting acknowledgment of this."

Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon and her husband were also at the rally.

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